The Murder & Mystery Tour
This tour is presided over by Adam Lyal himself, and always takes place after
dark - so you can expect a truly terrible bunch of ghouls to be lurking
in the shadows. Let’s meet them shall we?
For more practical information about the tours such as pricing, times etc. please read the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Adam Lyal (1785 - 1811)
A highwayman, Adam Lyal reached the peak of his career by stealing over £126 from a merchant on the road to Stirling. Unfortunately for him he was soon caught, after buying an extremely expensive pair of shoes. He was hanged on the 27th of March 1811AD, in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh.
It is believed that he still nightly haunts the Old Town’s closes and courtyards, terrifying locals and tourists alike…
Agnes Fynnie (? - 1641)
Agnes was a bad-tempered, foul-mouthed fishwife, who abused and cursed the locals whenever they refused to buy her wares. In fact, she was so disliked that she was accused of witchcraft, and managed to attract the largest number of charges in Scottish history (legend has it that this was the only thing she ever attracted).
She was worryitt (strangled and burned) in 1641, on the Castlehill, but it is claimed that she can still be heard, venting her wrath on passers-by in the ancient market sites of the Old
Town…
William Burke & William Hare
Although infamous as bodysnatchers (men who supplied the Medical Schools with fresh bodies for dissection), Burke and Hare were never proven to have robbed a single grave. They preferred to supply fresher specimens, by cutting out the middle-man and murdering people, picking on those who wouldn’t be missed.
When they were eventually caught, William Hare turned King’s evidence against Burke, and was banished from the city of Edinburgh. William Burke washanged outside St. Giles Cathedral on the 28th of January 1829AD.
It is thought that he may still roam the Cowgate, looking for the occasional lost tourist to seize upon…
The Mad Monk of the Cowgate (???? - ????)
For hundreds of years the Cowgate was home to many monasteries. However, in the mid-1600s, part of Blackfriars monastery was mysteriously burned to the ground. The ghost of one of the monks, terribly burned and utterly insane, is said to haunt the Cowgate to this day.
While some speculate that this tragic spirit is attempting to find his long-lost home, others claim that he is merely trying to get into one of the many pubs which later came to replace it…